Genistein-fed broiler chicks had significantly higher cutaneous basophil hypersensivity and antibody titers to Newcastle and infection bronchitis disease (coronaviridiae) compared to antibiotic-supplemented birds.

PMID: 

Animal. 2015 Sep ;9(9):1473-80. Epub 2015 May 22. PMID: 25998982

Abstract Title: 

Improved performance and immunological responses as the result of dietary genistein supplementation of broiler chicks.

Abstract: 

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of supplemental genistein (an isoflavonoid) on performance, lymphoid organs' development, and cellular and humoral immune responses in broiler chicks. A total of 675-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to the five replicate pens (15 chicks each) of nine experimental diets. Dietary treatments included a negative (not-supplemented) control diet, two positive control groups (virginiamycin or zinc-bacitracin, 20 mg/kg), and diets containing 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 and 320 mg/kg of genistein. The cutaneous basophil hypersensivity (CBH) test was measured at day 10 of age after toe web injection with phytohemagglutinin-P. In addition, sera samples were collected after different antigen inoculations to investigate antibody responses. At day 28 of age, three randomly selected birds from each pen were euthanized to evaluate the relative weights of lymphoid organs. Results showed that dietary supplementation of both antibiotics increased (P

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